


Scars

by Amajjzy



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: 100 Year Quests (Fairy Tail), F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2020-01-04 12:01:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18343286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amajjzy/pseuds/Amajjzy
Summary: “That's not thepoint,Luce!” He moved his hand then, the action careful, almost cautious as he placed it against her cheek- the scarred one. Lucy forced herself not to flinch. “Even if no one blames me, I- you- justlookat you!”-Lucy helps Natsu deal with his regret.100 years quest spoilers.





	Scars

**Author's Note:**

> Whew, it has been a _while_ since I've written something for this fandom. I might be a bit rusty, but let's see. 
> 
> Hope you like it!

He was upset.

Even while she was dressing her own burn marks in the safety of her tent, Lucy could tell he was upset.

And why wouldn't he be? He'd burned down half a city, beat the life out of a fairly innocent dragon and had almost gone as far as to destroy said dragon's body. Furthermore, he'd burned Lucy.

He'd lost himself completely.

Natsu's arms had been a horrifying sight. His flesh absolutely burned and  _ melted  _ away, the holes in his skin showing large chunks of muscle tissue even through the bloody mess. Lucy hadn't ever entertained the thought that he could be burned; by his own flames, no less. She'd always assumed that due to his fire dragon status, he'd inherently been immune to that kind of heat, and up until today, he hadn't proven her wrong.

And yet, even with the skin barely hanging off his bones, Natsu's arms hadn't been his biggest concern. He'd been more focused on his unwarranted slip of control, and when he'd come to his senses enough, he'd turned on Lucy; his face so full of emotion that for once, Lucy couldn't read him.

After making sure that the citizens weren't too injured and that Caramille was stable enough to handle the rest, they'd left the scene in a bit of a hurry; setting up camp not too far from the city, but far enough. Natsu hadn't said a word since then, the uncharacteristic silence throwing them off more than his brief slip of control had. He'd put up a weak fight against Wendy's attempts to ease his wounds just a little, but had given in and sat quietly after one look from Erza. If that hadn't been alarming enough, he hadn't responded to Gray's baiting jeers either.

Lucy's fingers toyed with the bandages wrapped neatly around her upper arm; a matching set to Natsu's. Her burns hadn't nearly been as severe as his, but what they lacked in brutality they made up for in quantity. The burns on her face especially would be hard to get rid of- Wendy's magic could only do so much.

With a sigh, Lucy laid back down on her futon, blond hair sprawled across the pillow she'd hastily packed at the start of this trip. She could still hear his footsteps, he'd started pacing the field half an hour ago, with an empty promise to Happy that he'd join him soon. Of course they all knew that the chances of him getting any sleep that night would be next to zero.

“Natsu,” she called, voice soft.

The pacing stopped right outside her tent, followed by a sharp intake of breath- Lucy could pretty much picture his shaky, bandaged hand running through that wild mop of pink hair that he would swear up to his grave was salmon coloured. She burrowed herself further into the blankets, cuddling into the familiar warmth and comfort of the fabric as she waited. It would probably take a while before he answered.

Just as she was about to call his name again, a soft sigh sounded right outside her makeshift door and she watched with lidded eyes as the zipper made its way down. Natsu stepped in, movements lacking the almost foolish confidence he usually carried with him. It made her heart ache.

“What's up?” He asked, feigning indifference. Lucy inspected him without answering, eyes starting at his face and trailing down his body; lingering on the slightly charred bandages on his arms. She sighed.  

Wordlessly, she pulled her covers aside, trying not to shiver as the cold air invaded her cozy little sanctuary. Natsu instantly stiffened.

His body tensed up, dark eyes focused to the side and his mouth moving to form whatever half-assed protests he could make up on the spot. Lucy merely stared at him, watched as he fidgeted in front of her as if she were a mere stranger, as if they hadn't known each other for years, hadn't been through a timeless war together, hadn't put their lives on the line to make sure the other would stay safe countless of times.

But then again, despite those years of trust, Lucy still had it within herself to be scared of him.

“Natsu,” she finally interrupted, his jumbled rants halting almost instantly. “I'm cold.”

It was a weak attempt, she knew, but it had to make do. She doubted that anything else she could've said in that moment would have made a difference anyhow.

Natsu stared at her, a storm of emotion swirling in his eyes like a whirlwind. Without the guise of fear clouding her judgement, his eyes were much easier to read, much more akin to what she was used to. She caught sorrow, hesitance, anger,  _ fear-  _ that last one is probably what did it.

Lucy had waited long enough. She crawled out of her covers on her hands and knees, not bothering to get up to full height as she tugged at his belt loops - she didn't want to touch his hands in fear of agitating his already harsh wounds - to bring him closer, ignoring his cacophony of protests and soft cries of her name. Lucy dragged him down under the covers with her, tangling their legs together and wrapping her arms around him to make sure he had no ways of escape. Of course he could probably flip their positions easily and toss her off if he really wanted to, but she relied on her ability to read him to ascertain that no, he probably wouldn't be doing that. Might not even want to, in fact.

“It's alright, you know,” she said, shrugging the covers fully over the two of them and snuggling in closer to his still idle form.

“It really isn't.”

“None of us blame you.”

“That's not the  _ point,  _ Luce!” He moved his hand then, the action careful, almost cautious as he placed it against her cheek- the scarred one. Lucy forced herself not to flinch. “Even if no one blames me, I- you- just  _ look  _ at you!”

Lucy smiled wryly. “What are you talking about? Your injuries are far worse.” She'd been expecting this, yeah, but that didn't mean she knew how to deal with it. She'd called him in without a plan in mind, going along with it purely on a whim, like most of their escapades.

“That-” Natsu glanced down at his heavily bandaged arms, his chest rising up and down at the shaky breath he let out. “That doesn't matter.”

“Then neither do mine,” she shrugged.

“Lucy-”

“It  _ doesn't,”  _ she insisted, tone firm and leaving no room for argumentation. She glared at him, one of her hands escaping the warmth of the covers to grab his chin instead and tug his face down. “I've been hurt before, this isn't even the worst that I've had and you know it. It's not a big deal, okay?”

“It  _ is  _ because you've never been hurt because of  _ me!”  _ He cried, voice rising. His eyes were wide and fearful, the regret swimming in tidal waves and she could see it clearly, the same way she would if someone were to write down his inner thoughts and hand it to her. “I hurt you, Luce,” he continued, voice lowering in octave and sounding a lot more shaky this time around. “If it's as bad as I think, you'll be walking around carrying scars that  _ I  _ made from now on.”

Lucy merely hummed, a thousand words and a million thoughts running through her brain, but she settled with tightening her grip around his waist, tugging him even closer into her warmth. “Accidents happen, Natsu.”

“They shouldn't,” he replied, leaning down to bury his face into her neck. He inhaled, shamelessly taking in her scent but for once, she didn't comment on it. He needed it right now, needed the reassurance that he hadn't messed things up completely, that he hadn't manage to lose her in his spiel of unbridled fury. “I killed him, Lucy,” he murmured against her skin.

Lucy kissed his temple. “You had to.”

“He was innocent.”

“It was the only option.”

“I wanted to burn his body until there was nothing left.”

“But you didn't.”

“Because you were there to stop me.”

“And I always will be.”

“Thank you,” he said, finally,  _ finally  _ returning her embrace. “I'm glad I took you with me that day.”

Lucy snorted at the unorthodox compliment, the memory of their first meeting in Hargeon still fresh in her mind despite it having been so long ago.

Regardless she ran her fingers through his hair, rubbing at his scalp in a calming, soothing manner that she knew for a fact would get him to sleep more often than not. He needed the rest, needed to sleep the pressure off, needed to realize that everything was  _ fine  _ and that it was  _ over  _ and that no matter what happened, he still had Lucy, he still had Fairy Tail. Lucy could speak from experience and say that if he didn't get himself into that particular headspace, it would eat him alive.

It didn't take long before his soft snores invaded her ears, and she smiled, shifting to rest his head more comfortably against her chest so that he wouldn't be waking up with a sore neck tomorrow morning.

He would be fine, she knew he would.

_ I'm glad I took you with me that day. _

“Me too.” 

 


End file.
